Chapter Twenty-Five: One Epoch—One Hundred Twenty-Nine Thousand Six Hundred Years

"This news... is neither good nor bad," Luo Zu thought to himself, gazing at the trembling woman before him. She belonged to the human race, her face weathered by the years, and was over three hundred years old. Her name was Xi, and she had borne seventy-six children. This was her own introduction, with particular emphasis on the fact that she had once given birth to seventy-six children. Moreover, she spoke in the common demon tongue.

Luo Zu was lucky to have been taught this language by an elder, though only today did it come in useful. Before Luo Zu introduced the "Cave Dweller" language to the humans, they spoke a jumble of dialects. The vast wilderness was home to many demon clans and countless witch tribes, each with their own tongues. Before the spread of "Han language," the Cave Dweller tribe alone juggled eighteen different dialects, and without gestures, one could hardly fathom another's meaning.

The reason this woman spoke the common demon tongue was that she had once been kept by a powerful demon clan. To be kept meant humans had become sustenance for demons. Later, when a branch of this large demon tribe split off, she was taken along. For the sake of efficiency in transporting humans, the demons taught them the common demon tongue. Yet, during their migration, the splintered group was attacked by a witch tribe; their flying craft destroyed, many demons slain, and the humans nearly wiped out. She ended up wandering near here, and after several years of drifting, was discovered by the "Cave Dwellers."

Of course, she had no idea how many years had passed. In the wilderness, time was not reckoned; even witches and demons, practitioners of cultivation, had yet to create proper units for time—there were only eras and primal cycles, nothing more.

By Luo Zu's calculation, an era in the wilderness was 129,600 years, and a primal cycle was 129,600 eras. The reason time units were so vast was that the beings of the wilderness often lived for thousands or tens of thousands of years. Those who had attained immortality cared little for the passage of time, so eras and primal cycles sufficed for their reckoning. This system was said to have been promulgated by Candle Dragon, the ancestral witch. Without the elders' teachings, Luo Zu, growing up in such a remote place, would never have known about eras and primal cycles—he simply would not live long enough to care.

"Chieftain, is she dead?" Iron Head asked, pointing at the woman who had suddenly collapsed.

Luo Zu shot him a sidelong glance. "With breathing that chaotic, you think she's dead?"

"She's exhausted, suffering from malnutrition, and has fainted," Luo Zu said briefly—starved into unconsciousness.

In the wilderness, fainting from hunger was all too common. Humans were so frail, and with so many fierce beasts on this land, without gathering together, they could only cower at the bottom of the food chain.

"What did she say, Chieftain?" Iron Head pressed.

"She said she bore seventy-six children," Luo Zu replied as he gave her water, crushed some dried meat, mixed it with water, and fed it to her.

Iron Head's eyes widened. "Only that many?"

Xi indeed appeared quite old, her features suggesting she was close to five hundred. Life had been far harsher for her than the primitive existence of the Cave Dwellers—her hair was tangled and graying, her clothes in tatters, her body covered in scars, her skin withered, her chest no longer firm; she looked truly unwell.

After feeding her, Luo Zu used his healing arts, sending a thread of vital energy into her to preserve her life, so she would not perish on the rough road ahead. Having endured so many years, encountering her own kind at last, her spirit relaxed, and her body, already on the verge of collapse, could easily give out.

As for whether she spoke the truth, Luo Zu trusted his own eyes to detect the tiniest flicker of primitive expression.

"Let's go back to the tribe," Luo Zu called out to his people.

This unexpected discovery excited him a little. At last, he had a chance to learn about the outside world. This woman had lived among a great demon tribe—even as a captive, she must have learned much.

He also needed to determine the location of that demon tribe. If they were keeping humans as food, the Cave Dwellers could be in danger if they were too close.

As for what counted as "close," Luo Zu, with his scant understanding of the wilderness, considered ten million kilometers to be near enough. Who could say that a great demon, with a single leap of light, could not cross such a distance—perhaps even farther than Sun Wukong's fabled hundred thousand miles.

Besides, the demon race possessed flying craft, allowing even lesser demons to migrate great distances.

In such circumstances, Luo Zu truly had to be cautious. The Cave Dwellers were still too fragile. The wilderness had not yet reached the time when humankind would flourish; humans were not yet a match for witches and demons. They could only grow quietly in the shadows.

Moreover, the wilderness was not home only to witches and demons—other races existed, though most were suppressed or assimilated by the two dominant clans.

Luo Zu had even considered leading his people to seek protection under the demons, especially with Lady Nuwa as a powerful patron.

But now, it seemed the demons looked down on humans, seeing them as no more than snacks. No, not even snacks—just morsels, for humans had so little flesh they could barely fill the gap between the teeth of those massive demons.

After an hour of trekking over mountains, Luo Zu and his party finally made their way through the rugged terrain and returned to the cave of their tribe.

Once inside, Luo Zu had the hunting party lay the woman down, then patted her cheeks, trying to rouse her.

"Chieftain, let me do it," Iron Head offered, seeing Luo Zu's efforts in vain. He spat into his hands, rubbed his palms together, and stepped forward.

"With your heavy hands, what if you beat her to death?" Luo Zu scolded.

He then gathered a ball of water, drained some of its warmth until it was icy, and splashed it onto the woman's face.

With a gasp, the woman jolted awake, panic-stricken, crying out as she scrambled backward along the floor.

"No, no, no..."

"What is she saying?" Fire Child asked, curious.

Luo Zu didn't answer, instead signaling two of the tribe's women to soothe her. He had taught them a few phrases of demon tongue beforehand.

After some chaos, the woman finally calmed down. Luo Zu had her brought water and food.

The digestive systems of wilderness humans were hardy; there was no risk of dying from sudden refeeding after long starvation.

Thus, Luo Zu provided her with a normal meal.

After she had eaten her fill, Luo Zu questioned her gently, and she recounted her experiences in full.